I am not Catholic but love how Pope Leo represents all that Christ called his followers to be. Loving, embracing and accepting of all humanity. Yet speaking truth to power.
This is well written and interesting. This man is the man for these times and this history is more proof of that.
I am a lapsed Catholic. After one of the pointed statements by Pope Leo that did not name but named the American President in a rebuke of his policies I made a joke and said, “ maybe I have to rethink this whole Catholic thing… “ that is Pope Leo’s power.
Thank you for the gift link. I am a big fan of Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Finding Your Roots. He also did a wonderful multi-part series on black history, that started way back in Africa, through the Civil War and civil rights years, to present. As I worked on my own family's ancestry, I got the feeling that if I just kept going, I would find that I was connected to everybody in the world. That gave me a wonderful feeling of being part of one huge family. I recommend everyone research their family's ancestry. I've traced family back to the 1700s, and my sister-in-law, who got me hooked, has found our people back in the 1600s.
How exciting for Pope Leo to have found his people. He has quite a wide variety! I am not Catholic, but I like him alot. I think he will be good for the world. I hope he will melt away the hate that some have developed here in the US.
This story is stunning—not because the Pope has Black ancestry, or enslavers in his family tree, but because he met that truth with reverence instead of retreat.
Pope Leo didn’t flinch. He didn’t curate the story. He received it. And in doing so, he modeled something rare for the Church: a willingness to hold contradiction without denial.
His roots are tangled, like all of ours. But he’s not pruning them for optics. He’s reading them like scripture—painful, complex, and holy.
I an amateur genealogist. I've been working on my tree since I was about 13 years old, but most consistently after the advent of the internet. So, about the last 30ish years or so. I'm 64 now and descended from the Mayflower immigrants on my mom's side and from the early Virginia immigrants on my dad's. (I don't call them settlers, anymore. They were immigrants.) So, you can imagine the stories in my tree. I won't get into them here, but some were typical and some very atypical. Some good, some horrible. We are all the descendants of both the sins and glories of our past. That's what makes us whole and that's why it's important to acknowledge all of it and to learn from it. Thanks so much for humanizing Pope Leo. I'm not Catholic. I'm an agnostic. But, this Pope is easy to relate to and he seems so genuine and not afraid to tackle hard things. Thanks for sharing him with us.
I am a former Catholic, now Presbyterian, who was inspired greatly by Pope Francis - and now by the courageous Pope Leo. He does indeed speak truth to power. He also radiates Christ’s love to his brothers and sisters. And for him, that’s everyone.
I am not Catholic but love how Pope Leo represents all that Christ called his followers to be. Loving, embracing and accepting of all humanity. Yet speaking truth to power.
Those are beautiful words! Thank you for reading, Deborah.
I think the word ‘truth’ is most important one in this essay
We don’t use that word and/or believe that word often enough…
I'm not Catholic either, but I also love how the Pope represents the teachings of Jesus Christ!❤️
Thanks for gifting the article!
Thank you for reading, Janice!
This is well written and interesting. This man is the man for these times and this history is more proof of that.
I am a lapsed Catholic. After one of the pointed statements by Pope Leo that did not name but named the American President in a rebuke of his policies I made a joke and said, “ maybe I have to rethink this whole Catholic thing… “ that is Pope Leo’s power.
💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Thank you for the gift link. I am a big fan of Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Finding Your Roots. He also did a wonderful multi-part series on black history, that started way back in Africa, through the Civil War and civil rights years, to present. As I worked on my own family's ancestry, I got the feeling that if I just kept going, I would find that I was connected to everybody in the world. That gave me a wonderful feeling of being part of one huge family. I recommend everyone research their family's ancestry. I've traced family back to the 1700s, and my sister-in-law, who got me hooked, has found our people back in the 1600s.
How exciting for Pope Leo to have found his people. He has quite a wide variety! I am not Catholic, but I like him alot. I think he will be good for the world. I hope he will melt away the hate that some have developed here in the US.
This story is stunning—not because the Pope has Black ancestry, or enslavers in his family tree, but because he met that truth with reverence instead of retreat.
Pope Leo didn’t flinch. He didn’t curate the story. He received it. And in doing so, he modeled something rare for the Church: a willingness to hold contradiction without denial.
His roots are tangled, like all of ours. But he’s not pruning them for optics. He’s reading them like scripture—painful, complex, and holy.
May more leaders follow suit.
🙏 AMEN
Good on Pope Leo. He is at one with all American People
Amazing work, Dr Gates! Fascinating
Amazing — isn’t it? Thank you for reading, Deborah!
We all have Black roots. Some of us know that.
It is a sad truth that the enslavement of fellow humans is colour blind… yet only one religion and culture eradicated it.
Excellent article. Thanks, too, for the link to the NYT article. His background is fascinating.
Thank you for this article 🙏
New Orleans Creole!
I watch Henry Louis Gates show quite frequently. He's really amazing.
Embrace your diversity. It broadens our visions.
Thank you for gifting this article. It really brings the Pope into a better focus than even Pope Francis, whom I really respected
I an amateur genealogist. I've been working on my tree since I was about 13 years old, but most consistently after the advent of the internet. So, about the last 30ish years or so. I'm 64 now and descended from the Mayflower immigrants on my mom's side and from the early Virginia immigrants on my dad's. (I don't call them settlers, anymore. They were immigrants.) So, you can imagine the stories in my tree. I won't get into them here, but some were typical and some very atypical. Some good, some horrible. We are all the descendants of both the sins and glories of our past. That's what makes us whole and that's why it's important to acknowledge all of it and to learn from it. Thanks so much for humanizing Pope Leo. I'm not Catholic. I'm an agnostic. But, this Pope is easy to relate to and he seems so genuine and not afraid to tackle hard things. Thanks for sharing him with us.
I am a former Catholic, now Presbyterian, who was inspired greatly by Pope Francis - and now by the courageous Pope Leo. He does indeed speak truth to power. He also radiates Christ’s love to his brothers and sisters. And for him, that’s everyone.
This is amazing! I am praying for our Pope